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PERSPECTIVE article

Front. Virtual Real.

Sec. Augmented Reality

Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frvir.2025.1649785

Programmable Reality

Provisionally accepted
Ryo SuzukiRyo Suzuki1Parastoo AbtahiParastoo Abtahi2Cheng Zhu-TianCheng Zhu-Tian3Mustafa Doga DoganMustafa Doga Dogan4Andrea ColacoAndrea Colaco5Eric J GonzalezEric J Gonzalez5Karan AhujaKaran Ahuja5,6Mar Gonzalez-FrancoMar Gonzalez-Franco7*
  • 1University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, United States
  • 2Princeton University, Princeton, United States
  • 3University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, United States
  • 4Adobe Inc, San Jose, United States
  • 5Google LLC, Mountain View, United States
  • 6Northwestern University, Evanston, United States
  • 7Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology Laboratory (EVENT lab), Microsoft Research (United States), Redmond, Catalunya, United States

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Innovations in spatial computing and artificial intelligence (AI) are making it possible to overlay dynamic, interactive digital elements onto the physical world. Soon, every object might have a real-time digital twin, enabling an 'Internet of Things' where even unconnected items can be identified and interacted with. This programmable reality would let us computationally manipulate the world around us, altering its appearance or functionality -like software, but for reality itself.Advances in AI language models enable zero-shot segmentation and understanding of the world, making it possible to query and manipulate objects with precision. However, this vision also demands natural and intuitive ways for humans to interact with these models -through gestures, gaze, and existing devices. Augmented Reality (AR) provides the ideal bridge between AI output and human input in the physical world. Moreover, diffusion models and physics simulations offer exciting possibilities for content generation and editing, allowing us to transform the everyday into extraordinary experiences. As AR devices become ubiquitous and indistinguishable from reality, these technologies blur the lines between real and simulated. This raises profound questions about how we perceive and experience the world, with implications for memory, learning, and even behavior. Programmable reality, enabled by AR and AI, has vast potential to reshape our relationship with the digital realm, ultimately making it an extension of the physical.

Keywords: AR, XR, AI, VR, GenAI

Received: 19 Jun 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Suzuki, Abtahi, Zhu-Tian, Dogan, Colaco, Gonzalez, Ahuja and Gonzalez-Franco. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mar Gonzalez-Franco, Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology Laboratory (EVENT lab), Microsoft Research (United States), Redmond, 08035, Catalunya, United States

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary Material